First look at Windows Phone 8.1

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Windows Phone 8.1 was released yesterday to developers but anyone can install it. The update is the biggest and most impressive refresh to Microsoft's mobile OS since its inception and one that brings various features and tweaks that propel Windows Phone forward as a viable and modern smartphone OS.

I installed Windows Phone 8.1 on my trusty Lumia 1020 and while the installation took around 40 minutes, it also became apparent that despite the '.1' designation, this is a major update.

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First Look at Apple's Mac Pro desktop

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple's much awaited Mac Pro started shipping a few weeks ago and we just received our review unit. This is the 12-core processor version with 32GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. It comes in a simple black box with a few flyers, black Apple stickers and a power cord.

The Mac Pro itself is stunning to behold. It is  indescribably shiny and it weighs so little and is small enough to carry with one hand. The conical shape is extremely well balanced and is built to an impressive degree of precision. One button quickly liberates the lock so you can remove the outer shell which reminds me of Darth Vader or Magneto's helmet. I'm scrounging around for a spare keyboard, mouse and monitor to hook up to this bad boy and expect to have a more detailed review in a few weeks time.

First Look at Lenovo's MIIX 2 Windows 8 Tablet from CES 2014

2014 could very well be Lenovo's year at CES. The PC market leader has unleashed a bevy of impressive notebooks, ultrabooks, tablets and even smartphones for good measure. One of the more interesting categories this year are 8-inch Windows 8 tablets that run full Windows (not RT). Dell has first mover advantage with its Venue 8 Pro tablet and now Lenovo's followed suit with their successor to the ThinkPad Tablet 2. Designed for work and play, the MIIX 2 has a quad core Intel Atom processor, stylus input, a expandable microSD slot and starts at $299 for the 32GB model. Here's our slideshow from the show floor.

Photos by Alex Davies

First look at the Google Nexus 5

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The Nexus 5 is the latest, gretest Pure Google device and the vessel that brings the updated Android 4.4 KitKat OS to mobile devices. I had a chance to check out the device at Google's Toronto headquarters earlier today and compare it briefly to its predecessor the Nexus 4. The Nexus 5 went on sale yesterday starting at $349 for the 16GB (unlocked version) but was sold out in less than an hour. They're back on sale now, but hurry since they leave the warehouse in 3-4 weeks.

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